Second Chances
by Miss Junie
Summary: Was there something you did, that still haunts you today? Artie made the worst decision of his life 5 years ago, and it's still haunting him. What happens though if he gets a second chance? Will he take it?
1. Worst Day

**Author's note:** Ok, this plot bunny just would _not_ go away. And although I have 3 other Glee stories that I am still working on (no fear) this one would just not leave my head, so I had to write it down so I could concentrate on something else. This is _definitely _the angstiest thing I've written to date, so hopefully you like it. It is _not_ a one-shot, but is going to be quite long. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Nope, never mine, and will never be.

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At the moment, Artie was sitting staring out of a window in New York, gazing out of a window in his apartment while waiting for Finn to finish whatever horrible concoction he was making. How, you ask, did he get to this point? He wasn't too sure either.

He knew a couple of things about his present situation: 1) Finn _sucked_ at cooking, but he was just so excited about it that Artie didn't have the heart to tell him it was awful, 2) In Glee, a weird friendship had formed between them and although Finn thought Artie was letting him do a favor by staying in his apartment while interviewing for a job here, he was actually doing Artie the favor.

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_5 years earlier_

The worst day of Artie's life was not in fact the day he ended up in his wheelchair. He had learned to deal with that a long time ago, and although it still sucked he couldn't do some of the things that other people could, he knew that he was lucky because he could do a lot of things that other people couldn't.

The worst day in actual fact was what Artie liked to call S-Day. Stutter-Day. The day he lost his best friend, the girl he had been in love with for half of his love, and the other part of him. When Tina had told him the truth that her stutter had been fake, he had lost it. He was terrified that there was nothing stopping her from being with anyone she wanted to be, and he would lose her.

But he lost her anyways. His mind was just so full of fear that he didn't know what to do, and he wheeled away from her, ignoring her crying and pleas. He had to get it sorted out in his head.

That night had been one of the worst of his life, constantly reaching for the phone, knowing he had to talk to her, but not knowing what to say. The finally reaching the courage to call, only to back out at the last second.

He wheeled to school the next day as fast as he could, desperately needing to talk to her. She wasn't at their usual spot, and he ignored the pang of disappointment, knowing he could find her somewhere in school. But, she wasn't there. He searched everywhere aside from the girls bathrooms, but couldn't find her.

He was determined not to let this get him down though, and knew that they shared Glee club together, and there was no way she would miss it. The rest of the day was one long agonizing wait, and he finally got to practice.

She wasn't there.

Other people noticed it too, and before Artie had change to say anything, Mr. Schue announced that a relative of Tina's was sick and she wouldn't be at practice for the week. Everyone sent sympathetic glances Artie's way, but he pretended not to notice, too ashamed of admitting the truth.

He sent her a text as soon as he got home and found his phone, keeping it short and simple, **I'm so sorry Tee, I heard about what happened, and I hope everything's ok. We need to talk, I screwed up. **

She didn't respond.

He sent her another text the next day. **Hey Tee, I guess you're busy right now, but hope everything's going ok. We all miss you. I miss you. Do you know when you're coming back?**

She didn't respond.

He sent her a text everyday that week, but nothing.

She finally came back the week after, and Artie finally saw her when she entered Glee club.

"Tee!" he smiled enthusiastically at her, and wheeled over to her to give her a hug.

"Hi Artie," she gave him a small smile.

Artie took a second and looked her up and down, she was wearing _really_ different clothing. None of it was ripped, torn, or had any metal pins. She was wearing what every other person was typically wearing, and it looked _weird_. Tina never dressed like that. But the worst part? Her blue streaks were gone.

"How you doing Tee?" he said worriedly.

"Ok," she gave him another small smile and went over to sit with Brittany and Santana.

Artie just stared after her in shock. What had happened to her? The rest of the club filed in and gave him a couple of confused glances. He knew that he had screwed up, but they were best friends, and she wouldn't even really talk to him.

This happened every day for the rest of the month. He would try to talk to her and just get small-talk in return. He finally got fed up of it and asked her straight out.

"Look Tina, I _know_ I screwed up. I just got so scared that I would lose you, and I know that I messed up, but can't we just talk about it?" he pleaded.

"Artie, look it's ok," she gave him another small smile which he hated. His Tina used to give him huge smiles, or secret smiles, not these small smiles. "I know I hurt you too, but let's just move on ok? It's fine, honestly."

"Ok," he agreed reluctantly. Something just didn't feel right.

It was never the same. She would only exchange small talk with him, and it was soon the summer holidays. They were friends, but not best friends the way they had been. During that time, Artie grew closer to the rest of the club, especially with Finn who was still hurting over Quinn.

Everything was different. They would still smile at each other, but that special bond was broken between them. Artie didn't know how to cross the space that had opened up between them, and Tina just seemed unwilling to try.

After they came back from the holidays, it was worse. They would just give each other those small smiles now, nothing else. They'd exchange a couple of word in Glee, but that was it. By the time graduation came, they were strangers. They exchanged a high-five, and a "See you!" but they both knew it wouldn't happen.

Artie found out from Mercedes who constantly tried to get them back together that Tina was going to New York for University, funnily enough the same place Artie was going too. They never saw each other though, no matter how many times Artie would wish it.

They saw each other at the occasional Glee reunion and would exchange a few small words and then move on. And each time crushed Artie a little more inside.

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So, that would explain a little of how Artie ended up in this precise predicament. He had graduated with honors from New York, and was now one of the most sought-after computer programmers in the city.

Finn had called him about a month ago to tell him about the interview he got in New York, and Artie had invited him to stay in his apartment, and that's how Finn somehow ended up there. He had thanked Artie over and over for letting him stay, but Artie didn't care. Finn was doing him the favor. He would take any small connection to Tina he had, and he knew that Tina and Finn talked occasionally.

He could never get S-Day out of his mind, and constantly think about how he could have handled it differently, and how he might have kept his best friend and the girl he was still in love with.

"Hey Artie," Finn called from the kitchen, pulling him out his musing.

Artie sighed and wheeled towards the kitchen, the last time this had happened it was to put a fire out. "The fire extinguisher's on that side, Finn," he pointed to it on the wall.

"Nah, dude, I've got this under control," Finn smiled, "Just you might want to get ready for that party, this is almost done," he nodded at the food.

Artie groaned. He had forgotten all about the party he had been forced to by his boss. He had recently finished building the "most sophisticated pieces of computer equipment," for one of NY's big firms (he couldn't even remember what it was called), and they were throwing a party to officially open it. "Thanks Finn," he said distractedly.

He always hated being in big crowds. Whenever he was in them, he would think about how he didn't use to mind them because of who was by his side. When he was in them now, he always used to think he saw the flash of black hair, and felt his heart leap, only to sink lower into his chest when he saw a different face.

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So, how'd we like it? Reviews = love.


	2. Settling

**Author's note:** Wow, angst! I will admit, I did get a bit teary while writing this! Eeek! Haha. Hope you guys enjoy it, a few curve-balls will be thrown, but please let me know if you like/hate it. Also, HUGE shoutout to my amazing readers/reviewers, and also Artemis Rayne, and Miss Maggie who always give me thoughts, no matter how awful the story is. Also, huge shoutout to xnerdark for one of the most INCREDIBLE reviews I've got :)!

**Disclaimer:** Nope, not mine!

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One of the best times in her life and the worst times of her life happened simultaneously. That was the day she noted as Stutter-gate in her mind, and the day she lost her best friend.

It was one of the best times of her life, because she had finally told the secret she had been keeping for 6 years, that she had been faking her stutter. She hadn't faked it because she didn't want to do her speech in Grade 6, she had faked it because she was absolutely terrified of standing up in front of people and having their attention on her. Every single time she had stood up in front of people she had vomited or fainted.

She had started stuttering in fear, and realized that she pushed people away when she did that. It wasn't that she wanted to push people away so much as she could not be in front of people.

Then, she had moved to Lima and met Artie, her best friend. She instantly felt at ease around him, and they formed a fast, and at the time she thought, a lasting friendship. They steadily became the constant in each other's lives, and the one they shared everything with, except that one secret.

He had been the only one that she had felt comfortable with, and he had finally persuaded her to join Glee club with him. She had been terrified at first, but singing in front of people just made something just felt right.

Artie had finally asker her out on a date, and she had been in love with him for almost as long as they had been best friends. She had had an amazing first date an a first date with him, and she couldn't take it anymore, she had to tell him the truth.

As she told him, she watched as his face grew more and more closed, and saw the hurt in his eyes. When she had finished telling him, it took all of her courage to keep her eyes on him. She had finished with a final desperate, "You understand don't you?" His reply broke her heart and when he wheeled away from her, her heart had shattered.

She made her way home in a slow daze and thankfully her parents weren't home, and she went to her bedroom, closed the curtains, sat on the bed, pulled the covers slowly, methodically over her, and cried herself to sleep.

She slept for the rest of the evening, and for the rest of the week. Her mother had gone to wake her up the next day for school, and couldn't wake her. She placed her hand on her forehead, and she was burning up, and no matter what she did, Tina would not wake up. She called the ambulance and Tina spent the the next two days asleep in hospital, and then the next 3 recovering at home.

The doctors didn't really know what was wrong with her, their best guess was that it was an extremely nasty flu virus. Tina's Mother had called the school and told them that she was in hospital, but to please tell everyone else she was visiting a sick family member. She knew Tina well enough to know that she wouldn't want all the attention on her.

Tina spent those 3 days awake at home watching movies, reading to books, and listening to music. There are just those times you put on things that make you sad so that you have an excuse to _be_ sad, and then people can't really ask you why you're crying. That's what she did for the rest of the week. Her Mother spent the first day with her, and then had to go back to work, but she popped in occasionally. While she was out, watching, reading, and listening to sad things was all she did, and she cried until there were no tears left.

By the end of the third day, she'd come to a decision. She'd deliberately ignored any contact from anyone else outside her home, because she couldn't deal with it. She knew that she'd have to go back to school on Monday, and there were a couple of things she knew right now. One, she'd told Artie about her stutter, and he'd wheeled away from her not wanting to hear the rest of what she had to say. Two, she didn't ever want to feel this way again. Three, in order to accomplish that, she had to make some major changes, and that included cutting off the close ties she had with him.

It wasn't that she didn't love him. She loved him more than she loved anything or anyone else, and for that reason, she couldn't be close with him again. Whether he regretted what he had done or not, it had happened, and it would probably happen again in a different situation. She just couldn't cope with doing that again.

She decided that when she went back, she would start cutting off those ties. She would still be his friend because she loved him too much to let him go, but she also loved him too much to be best friends with him again. She would start doing more things with Kurt and Mercedes because although she loved them dearly, they didn't fill that other part of her that Artie did.

Monday morning came and Tina finally picked up her phone again. When she saw the messages from Artie, she started tearing up and almost didn't make it out the front door. That only strengthened her resolve though and she put on a determined face and made it out the door.

It was one of the toughest days of her life. All she wanted to do when she got to school was to find Artie, crawl into his lap, put her arms around his neck and cry her heart out. She couldn't do that though, she had to be strong. When time for Glee came, she almost didn't show, knowing how hard it would be to see him. She took another deep breath, walked in the classroom, and sat next to Santana, briefly saying hi to Artie.

That month became the hardest month of her life, and she vowed that no matter how much she wanted to just break down and let Artie back in, she wouldn't. She could _not_ experience that kind of heartbreak again.

Artie knew things weren't right though, but whenever he tried to talk to her, she would just say, "It's ok," smile and walk away. He never noticed the tears in her eyes when she walked away, and how she would call Kurt and Mercedes immediately after and they would go to someone's house, cry, crack open the movies and the ice-cream.

Kurt and Mercedes tried to talk to Tina about letting Artie back in, but soon stopped trying. Tina was too determined not to experience this again, and each time one of her conversations happened with Artie, they would be there to help her back on her feet and wipe the tears away.

Slowly, it got better. Tina stopped crying as much, instead becoming slightly more withdrawn whenever anything about Artie was mentioned, and she put all thoughts of him to the back of her mind.

She wasn't happy, far from it. But she was too terrified to let him back in. She couldn't.

When the time for summer came, she was ecstatic with relief. She had got a job at a summer camp far away from Lima and everyone in there, and she worked with ESL children. It was an incredible experience, and each time she helped a child learn a new word or phrase in English, the big smile they would direct at her would ease her heartbreak just a little bit more.

When school started up again, she was a bit more settled in her mental state. She didn't cry as much anymore about Artie, she had compartmentalized those feelings. Every so often, they would break out, but with the help of Kurt and Mercedes, she would bottle them back up.

She graduated twelfth grade with top honors in History, her favorite subject, and she was headed off to New York in the fall. She knew that Artie was also going there, even though they hadn't talked about it, and she knew that he knew she was going there too.

At their graduation ceremony, she almost completely broke down, knowing that she wouldn't likely see him again. Kurt and Mercedes dragged her into the washroom and their friendship was the thing that got Tina through that ceremony. When Artie had wheeled up to her with his big smile and congratulations, she had congratulated him right back, and said "See you around!" with a smile, even though she wouldn't, took a deep breath, and walked away.

She moved out of Lima the next week and set up in New York with Mercedes and Kurt, both who were attending fashion school. Every so often they would reunite in Lima with the rest of the Glee club, but she made sure to sit as far away from Artie as she could. Each time left her a little more desolate than before, but she was determined not to let it show.

She graduated with honors from her University and got a job at the American Museum of Natural History. Each day, she would give a tour to school children, and their smiles would make her day just a little happier. She was always concerned about large crowds, because she'd always worried about that person in front of her she used to push around and didn't want to get hit. She would always have to take a deep breath and remind herself that he wasn't there anymore, and wouldn't even think about her anymore, so why was she thinking about him?

She was startled out of reverie by Kurt waving a hand in front of her face. She had been sitting by the window, gazing down at the city where it seemed everyone had somewhere to be.

"Tina, come in Tina, if there is anyone there, please phone home," he said melodramatically waving a hand in front of her face.

"Sorry, Kurt, just zoned out, long day," she smiled tiredly at home.

He gazed concerned at her, "I know sweetie, but remember you've got that big party tonight."

Tina groaned. The Museum's computer system had just been updated by this computer genius and they were having a party to celebrate it's finish. As one of the heads of the Museum, it was mandatory she attend.

"Fine," she huffed, smiling at him. "What am I wearing?"

It was a standard joke amongst the three of them that she never dressed herself. Living with two fashion designers her wardrobe had been completely revamped by them one day, and every major event, they always chose what she wore.

"On your bed dear," he glanced at her, "And Ben will be here soon," he winked at her.

Tina blushed. She knew that Kurt and Mercedes didn't approve of Ben, her fiancée. They had had the talk many times, but Ben was staid, responsible, funny, and he cared about her. She didn't experience any of those fireworks that people said they did when they were in love, but maybe that wasn't for everyone.

After what she had experienced with Artie, she was determined never to give anyone that much power over her again, and had chosen to date Ben. When he had proposed, she felt a gut-churning wrench in her stomach. All the times she used to dream about this, it was always with a different boy, with a different smile, who made her laugh at anything, and made her genuinely happy.

But was Ben safe? Yes. She was still in love with Artie, but she was different then, and she couldn't put herself in that emotional situation again. So, she had agreed to marry Ben, knowing she didn't love him, but she cared about him. That seemed to be enough.

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Ouch, the angst! And fiancee? Wow! Haha. Remember, reviews = love


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